This is one of my favourite places in the world. I crave Bibimbap when not in London and come back here everytime I visit. The chilli chicken and pork are my favourites (win brown rice and a raw egg!)
One of the best new cuisine I have tried in a while. This is very close to ramen yet very different. I ordered tofu bibimbap with white rice and raw egg with kimchi pancakes and apple soju. Pancakes were warm and soft, and bibimbap was right mix of sweet and spicy. Would definitely eat again
Cosy little place near Fitzroy Square.
Good Food served by prompt staff at reasonable prices.
There are sufficient vegetarian options to choose from.
After my visit to the British Museum I was really pleasantly surprised to see a Korean restaurant across the street. I know my parents have been craving for Korean food so we just went for it. Its a very small, cafe-like restautant. We ordered the Bibimbap (rice with assorted veggies and soy marinated beef), Spicy tofu soup and Kimchi soup. The portions were very small however the flavour was spot on, it was really great.
I recommend to anyone who loves Korean food or for those who want to try it.
This small Charlotte Street restaurant takes its name from bibimbap, a signature Korean dish of fried rice, topped with vegetables and soy sauce, served in a hot stone bowl, a variety of which are available. Each bibimbap bowl comes with a rainbow of thinly sliced vegetables (carrots, daikon, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, spinach…) and there’s a huge choice of extra toppings, ranging from Kimchi (chilli-spiced fermented cabbage) to seafood, spicy pork, beef and much more.
This place never disappoints. Love their beef bulgogi bibimbap, and the raw egg is always a treat. Their seafood pancake (pajeon) is crispy and wonderful. Love the sizzling hot stone bowls, and how the rice crisps up. Amazing prices too, cute atmosphere, and fun K-pop playing. Highly recommended!
Was my first time in a Korean place and I quite liked it.
I ordered their speciality the bibimbap and was nice with I decide the fiilers the type of rice and the bowl .
They have two type of bowl one is cold and the other one is hot , if you choose the hot one you can decide to have in the rice a raw egg that is a perfect match because is make a nice cream when is melt in the rice.
For sure I will try another dish , another time .
Little lack the don't have pudding and for me for what is offering as a place is expensive .
Bibimbap is a signature Korean dish, pronounced “pibimbap” the word literally means mixed rice. Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sauteed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste), soy sauce or doenjang, a salty soybean paste. A raw or fried egg and sliced meat are common additions. Served in a very hot stone bowl the content is stirred together thoroughly and cooked against the side of the dish just before eating.
Nutritious Bibimbap. Brown rice, ginko, chestnut, dates, vegetables
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Bibimbap! The name alone gets you excited for what's to come...
This buzzing little Korean restaurant serves up these sizzling hot-stone bowls of absolute comfort food (aka dol sot bibimbap). It's a nice spot for a chinwag with your pals because there's no need to worry about your food getting cold *phew*
I came here with a couple of friends, and ordered the dol sot bibimbap which is a hot stone bowl of white or brown rice with vegetables, a topping of choice and an optional fried or raw egg (this cooks in the bowl). The portion sizes are generous and you've got most of your food groups packed in, so it's a winner amongst health bunnies too.
As a lover of mushrooms and sceptic of the raw, I opted for the mixed mushroom dol sot bibimbap, with a fried egg on top... The trick is in the stirring, so you don't end up with a burnt bottom of crispiness.
There are optional Korean sauces to add some flavour as the meal pre-sauce can be a little bland. You eat at canteenesque tables, with a backdrop of Polaroids of diners enjoying their bibimbaps...
The atmosphere is cosy and unique, and I left satisfied, the meal is comforting, HOT, an experience and defo worth a try!
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Until I was about 17 I'd never really eaten food that wasn't typically British, not curry, not Chinese, not Thai, nothing. It sounds ridiculous thinking about it now but I was really quite a picky eater and it took me until I was about 20 to actually eat a tomato. It's funny because now there is very little that I really won't eat (shellfish is one of the few mainstream foods I won't eat). I'm very much making up for lost time now though and particularly making the
most of the fact that London offers just about every cuisine imaginable.
Earlier this year I had my first taster of Korean flavours via Kimchinary which does fusion street food in the form of 'Korean burritos', but I'd never had proper Korean food until this past weekend when I was invited for a meal at Bibimbap. As we were in Central London for the matinee of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, it was the perfect place for a pre-theatre lunch. Bibimbap have two branches, one in Soho and the one that we visited in Charlotte Street. Although the Charlotte Street branch looks small from the outside, it stretches backwards and provides much more seating than you would expect. The decor was minimal but colourful and fun, with polaroid
photos of customers enjoying their bibimbaps decorating the walls. In addition there are photos of K-pop groups and Korean film posters which line the walls.
Once seated and after having considered the menu, we ordered two 'sides' which came as starters rather than side dishes; the chives mandoo dumplings and the kimchi pancake. The vegetable and chives dumplings were fried and served with a ginger soy dipping sauce. I am a bit of a dumpling fiend but my boyfriend always takes some convincing to order dumplings as he's often put off by the 'sliminess' of boiled or steamed dumplings. These were fried though and so they lacked that soft sliminess he finds off-putting and he became a complete dumpling convert, even going so far as to requisition the lion's share of the dumplings.
The kimchi pancake was fried kimchi (which is pickled cabbage) cooked in a thin pancake together with other vegetables. I was expecting the spicy sourness of the kimchi to come through stronger in this dish but it lacked that punch. It was perfectly nice but needed the flavour of the garlic and sesame soy sauce it was served with.
Although Bibimbap sells a whole host of dishes including noodle dishes, rice dishes and salads, the real attraction are the bimbimbaps. Bibimbaps are a traditional Korean dish and the word 'bibimbap' literally means 'mixed rice'. Essentially the dish is rice, topped with vegetables and optionally, meat. The bibimbaps served at Bibimbap are dolsot bibimbaps which mean that they are served in a hot stone bowl (seriously, do not touch them, they are phenomenally hot). As the bowl is so hot, the rice which is touching the sides gets all crispy and delicious and the dishes can be topped with a raw egg which cooks on the sides of the hot bowl.
There are ten different bibimbap options on the menu at Bibimbap and my pescetarian boyfriend delighted in the fact that five of them were vegetarian and one was seafood. The fact that vegetarian foods were placed front and centre in the menu was really good for him given that he's used to vegetarian dishes being very much a conciliatory attempt by restaurants to appease those who don't eat meat, they're rarely marketed as a really attractive option. In the end, after a lot of dithering, he ordered the Nutritious bibimbap which was ginseng, gingko, dates and chestnuts with vegetables all served on a bed of brown rice. When it arrived at our table it was unbelievably colourful.
To accompany the bibimbaps are two sauces - not mustard and ketchup as they might appear to be, but gochujang (a Korean hot sauce) and a miso sauce. After adding your choice of sauce and letting the dish sit for a few minutes to get nice and crispy against the sides of the bowl, then it's time to mix everything in together. The thing to remember is that it's not a race to finish it before it goes cold as this dish actually gets hotter the further you go down as you get to the bits which have been in direct contact with the hot stone bowl, so it would be a wonderful dish for spending time chatting with friends over.
Packed full of healthy, good things, he declared his bibimbap to be delicious and basically his ideal dish. While he went with the nutritious health foods, I went for the Fillet Beef bibimbap with white rice (you can choose brown instead) and an optional raw egg. Once I'd added my chilli sauce and it had all been mixed together and the heat of the bowl had cooked the strips of beef, it was time to abandon the chopsticks and really dig in with a spoon. This is not high cuisine, it's good, hearty food, the sort of filling, warming dish which is perfect for winter and the cold weather which will soon be setting in. My bibimbap was delicious and left me warm from the inside, exactly the kind of food I enjoy, unpretentious and filling.
After our meals we felt in need of something cold and sweet, an ice cream or a sorbet. Unfortunately, at least as far as I could see, Bibimbap don't offer desserts and so we were forced to try and find a little corner shop so that we could buy an ice cream. That was probably the only way that our experience could have been improved - the mains were delicious, the staff were attentive and polite and the prices are really reasonable (the bibimbaps are all under £10). My boyfriend is already wanting to go back for another visit so he can try out the other bibimbaps on offer.
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I normally go to the Soho outpost, but they’ve recently opened a second site on Charlotte Street, in what I’m now being told to call ‘Noho’, North of Soho, like the New York equivalent. I’m not sure if this will actually catch on. It’s a Korean restaurant and specialises in, and is named after, the country’s signature dish, bibimbap: a bowl of white rice topped with vegetables, some sort of meat and an egg, which is stirred together by the eater just before consuming. It’s then topped with gochujang (hot pepper sauce) and doenjang (fermented soybean sauce). Bi Bim Bap serves dolsot bibimbap, different options of the above served in a hot stone bowl, which radiates enough heat to cook raw meat and eggs within it, and also crisps up the bottom of the rice before you get to it.
The Charlotte Street restaurant, like the Soho one, is bright and fresh, with grass green chairs and a massive mural of Polaroid pictures of customers eating their bibimbaps covering one wall. They’re always buzzing. On this occasion I brought Joe along (who was wearing double denim, and looked like he should have been on a ranch with a horse between his legs, *cough*). He ordered a Hite beer, and I had a ginseng tea.
We started with a small bowl of kimchi, and a plate of kimchi pancakes to share: I can never have too much fermented cabbage. The kimchi itself was excellent, a good balance of sour and spice, but this was slightly lost in the pancakes. Joe then opted for the spicy pork bibimbap and I, my usual, fillet beef: strips of raw meat which cook once in contact with the hot bowl. You can choose between white and brown rice (which I’ve never had but friends who have say it is deliciously nutty), and whether you would like a fried or raw (again it cooks in the bowl) egg on top. We both went white and fried. Mine was, as always, delicious. The rice, meat and vegetables would be slightly bland on their own, but with a generous helping of the two sauces (which come in squeezy, American dinner type bottles) on top, it becomes a mouth-warming combination of umami, salty and hot flavours. I particularly love the crispy bits that welcome you when you reach the bottom of your bowl, and the creaminess the burst egg yolk adds to the dish. It’s also well balanced, and relatively healthy for a meal out.
The bibimbaps vary in price from £6.45 for the vegetarian options, to £9.95 for the fillet beef. An egg is an extra one of your pounds. Excellent value given that it is a complete meal in itself. A bowl of kimchi is a lovely way to kick off a meal, but I’ve never ventured much further into the starters and sides menu. You just don’t need to. The service is brisk, but never rude, and despite them being fairly quick, high turnover sort of places, I’ve never felt rushed to vacate a table. For a simple, healthy and cheap meal in Soho, or now Noho (still sounds wrong), you can’t do much better.
Miho @ Wander To Wonder
+3.5
I've always been a big fan of Korean food - when I lived in Wimbledon, we were very close to New Malden which is a mecca for Korean food shops and restaurants, so it was something of a staple for us. I love kimchi, kimbap (a kind of Korean sushi), pajeon (seafood pancake), the list goes on...
So when I was told that the restaurant Bibimbap (the name of another dish I love!) was opening a new branch on Charlotte Street (near Tottenham Court Road & Oxford Circus) and asked whether I'd like to come and try it, it wasn't exactly a hard decision.
They have a nice little description of what bibimbap is (the main feature of the restaurant, although the menu does include other main dishes as well as sides etc.) which is handy - if you're not familiar with the cuisine, you'll get an idea of what to expect. To explain briefly, it's a rice dish that comes in an extremely hot sizzling stone bowl, and you mix it all up with some hot sauce and it keeps cooking while you eat.
I recommended the bulgogi bibimbap to E, knowing that he would love all that beef and the flavourful sauce it's marinated in, and like the good husband he is he trusted me (at least when it comes to food).
I chose the seafood bibimbap because I can never resist seafood of any kind. I don't have to worry about cholesterol yet, do I?
We also had a kimchi pancake to share - these pancakes are so good, I really need to learn how to make it at home!
That last shot is of my favourite bit about bibimbap - if you leave some rice alone to cook on the surface of the bowl, it gets all golden and crispy and delicious. Love it.
I would ordinarily add a raw egg to this - it cooks as you mix it up in the bowl - but I wasn't quite hungry enough that day for it. I would definitely recommend it though (they have an option to add an egg for an extra pound) - if you're scared of getting it raw, you can get it fried like E did (although he would have wanted it raw, he just didn't realise it would cook in the heat!). The vegetables in the dish are pickled and flavoured, so the whole thing is well seasoned and kind of addictive.
The restaurant itself is very casual, relaxed and nothing fancy. It might not be an ideal setting for a romantic date or a special occasion, but for a quick, healthy and delicious bite to eat in the area it's great. Their prices are extremely reasonable (most of the bibimbap dishes are under 7/8 pounds) and it's a little different to your typical go-to casual dining, so if you're in the area (they also have a branch in Soho) you should definitely give it a go.
Also, did anyone watch Winter Sonata back in the day? They play some smooth Korean pop music/songs in this place, which always reminds me of Winter Sonata. Just saying.
Disclaimer: I was invited for a complimentary meal and to give an honest review by Bibimbap. All opinions are my own - I would never mislead you or be dishonest about food! It's too serious a matter.
http://www.wandertowonder.com/2014/07/bibimbap-charlotte-st.html
A really cute restaurant with a friendly atmosphere and great food. I had the spicy chicken bibimbap and a beer and it was delicious. Reasonably priced, tasty food. What more can you say?
Remember to mix your bibimbap ingredients or the rice gets crispy and glued to the sides of the hot bowl!
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With all the food trends that come and go, the owners of Bibimbap must be feeling fairly confident with their new venture. Whilst cronuts have already given way to the duffin, burritos are being knocked up by any old street vendor with a bucket of warm, brown rice and ramen burgers can be made (ill-advisedly) in the comfort of any twenty-something's kitchen, the Korean dish from which the restaurant takes its name is defiantly resistant to any of those dish's failings.
Bibimbap has been around, albeit mostly in Korea, for over a hundred years, and the variety that has recently made it to London (I found it first in Spitalfield's Japanese Canteen) will struggle to find its way into home kitchens or street-food stalls. You see, dolsot bibimbap (everyone opts to drop the dolsot round these parts) is served in a sizzling stone bowl.
This small restaurant, sitting on the foodie-friendly Charlotte Street, has a distinctly Wagamama-esque menu, but has a lot more heart than you might expect. Our bowls were delivered filled with rice, vegetables and our meats of choice - beef for me, and spicy pork for my girlfriend. Immediately it was obvious the I had chosen the less interesting meat; the pork was flavoursome and succulent, the beef a little plain.
The key to a good bibimbap is in the mixing - my previous experience had seen it mixed for me, though here we were left to our own devices. Whether this was a good of bad thing, I cannot entirely be sure. Certainly the early stages of the meal were far less interesting than the latter stages, when things had been mixed to within an inch of their lives, and had welcomed an overzealous dose of miso sauce.
It's a simple dish that is hard to make badly - and the Bibimbap chefs certainly do not struggle with the challenge. Even a competent bibimbap restaurant will do well simply because it can't be eaten anywhere else. After a few minutes spent mixing and munching, though, Bibimbap's dishes come to life, and earn a return visit with very little trouble at all.
I love this restaurant!
Cute restaurant with Polaroids of other customers over walls, service was fine and food was great, casual dining and standard seating. Price isn't exactly "cheap" but it's pretty average for a Korean concept in central London. Overall I have no complaints!
Great Bibimbap, meat is always tender and is served very well. their starters are also very tasty, delicious fried squid and kimchi pancakes. This branch is less crowded than than the soho one and service is usually much better as well. Food arrived quite quickly but you don’t feel rushed. Favorite dish: Beef Bulgogi Bibinbap, absolutely delicious.
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Incredible tasty food served in a sizzling hot stone bowl.
I have not yet had traditional Korean food and when a friend of mine recommended this place my expectations were quite high. And they have definitely been met!
The BiBimBap is a dish made of rice and veggies and one can also chose an additional topping. It is served in a hot bowl and the food is cooked through once you mix the ingredients in the bowl. The rice-veggie-ratio is nicely balanced, and the ingredients are fresh and of good quality. The rice is firm to bite and thankfully not too greasy and the veggies are cut in a size to be handled easily even by chop-sticks-rookies as I am.
The dish was served quickly and was a very filling portion. Prices are reasonable and justified.
The waiter was very considered upon my food allergies and came back to double check some of the ingredients before forwarding my order to the kitchen.
They also kindly re-sat me upon request as I was sitting next to the opened window but at that day felt a bit cold (which I did not anymore after I finished my BiBimBap).
A detail that I noticed but that is of high importance to me is that the menu at the door does not match the menu on the table in terms of the GF-labels and the table condiments/sauces do not have an ingredients label at all (hence only 4/5). As I always tell the waiter about my food intolerances, I am at low risk of ordering something that contained allergens I cannot have, yet allergies/intolerances should be taken seriously by the business as well, not only by the affected person. The menus should be updated in accordance to actual containing allergens and the bottles labelled so allergy sufferers could enjoy a worry-free meal. (I wanted to mention it to the waiter, but at my first visit I have been so impressed with the hot bowl that I unfortunately did not think of it at that moment and at my second visit I came with a friend and did not feel too comfortable rising that issue.)
Besides the food the place is tidy, seating is a bit narrow and therefor it might not be the ideal place for a romantic dinner and customer service is impeccable.
In summary this restaurant is great to go to if one fancies an out of the ordinary (at least I have not yet had a dish of that sort), fresh and delicious dish.
Will definitely come back!
The bibimbaps here are delicious! The portions are hefty so might be a bit too filling for lunch, but are perfect for dinner. I’ve tried the mushroom one and the one with tofu, both are great but the tofu one is my favourite (and this is coming from someone who is not even a fan of tofu). The miso and sriracha sauce really make this dish so make sure to add loads. The atmosphere and waiters are also superb.
Wasn't quite expecting the small chicken pieces that I was served but apart from that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Right amount of crispy and tender chicken. Went for the soy sauce and kimchi mayo sauce. Both delish.
Superb place for a spot of lunch especially on a freezing cold day, the hot stone let me make my own egg fried rice whilst keeping the rest of the meal nice and hot.
I love the place. Great Korean bibimbap and Korean Fried Chicken. Good price but the venue is small and loud when busy. Go try spicy pork or bulgogi with raw egg and brown rice with a side of KFC. Very happy with the food. They also do takeaway but do ask for extra gochujung sauce
Reasonable bibimbab at reasonable prices for London, but not quite as good as it could be.
Korean food should be spicy - and even though I ordered the spicy pork (제육), my bibimbab had no spice in it at all, not even a background tingle. Even when I asked for hot sauce / chilli powder / something spicy to add to it, they didn't have anything.
We also ordered the tofu bibimbab, which was again decent, but too sweet. A few minor improvements and this could be a great little place.
Tasty , more westernised version of bibimbap, really. not the traditional authentic bibimbap , so dont go in expecting a hot stone bowl that comes with kimchi, namul and all those that comes with it. But it was still very good. Maybe a raw/fried egg should come with the dish shouldn’t be an “extra” to order for.
Friendly waiters though 👌
Great food, friendly enough staff. It was a bit squeezed in! But apart from that I would recommend checking it out.
Gordon Müller-Eschenbach
+4
Nice small restaurant - liked the young vibe and the fast service. Good was cool too. Head here if you look for some quick yummy food. service charge will be added (as more and more restaurant do. this bow)
Leckere schnelle Küche - junges Publikum, Koreanische kleine karte
Putting my hands down for another Korean restaurant here. Bibimbap Charlotte Street, located in an area with many other eateries, does well with a tasty selection of Bibimbaps. The prices are reasonable, though not as competitive as some of the neighbouring restaurants. However, it outshone them in the aspects of quality, presentation, taste and dietary balance. My usuals are Dol Sot Bibimbap, Chicken Teriyaki Bibimbap and Kimchi Bibimbap. This place is slightly hidden from the main road, but don't be shy and take a few extra strides to try the famous Korean cuisine in Bibimbap Charlotte Street.
Great food, reasonable price in London. Nice and easy to get to. Will come again.
At first the appearance put me off but it's true what they say looks don't mean nuffin its the inside what counts :) tried the spicy chicken bibinbap and kfc truly amazing highly recommend I will be returning very soon 👌🏼 big portions well mannered staff comfortable seating and clean environment 5stars all round!
Don’t let the exterior and plain decor put you off. Hot bowls of deliciousness. Green tea form tea leaves.
Filling and very tasteful as always. Fast service and be very careful as it is very hot. Remember to mix around from time to time!
Good value for money, with great presentation but the bowl could have bit more veggies instead of rice.
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